This year marks the tercentenary of polymath Sir John Vanbrugh, regarded as the rockstar architect of the Baroque era. Art historian Sir Charles Saumerez Smith, co-curator of the Vanbrugh exhibition at the Sir John Soane’s Museum, and Rory Fraser who is writing a biography on Vanbrugh, discuss the man happy creating dramas for the British stage and dramatic buildings on the British landscape.

Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid is known for her distinctive brightly coloured paintings of black characters. She reflects on representing Great Britain at this year's Venice Biennale, and her ambition as a painter to capture the awkward moment.

Marking tonight's first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, television critic Scott Bryan assesses this year's runners and riders aiming to win the song for Europe.

Theatre and opera director Kip Williams on directing the UK premiere of the Pulitzer prize-winning opera Angel's Bone which has its UK premiere in Manchester tonight. Fresh from directing one-woman shows with Cynthia Erivo in Dracula, and Sarah Snook in The Picture of Dorian Gray, he talks about juggling the challenges of a contemporary genre-fusing opera.

Presented by Nick Ahad Produced by Ekene Akalawu

Critics Ben Luke and Aviva Dautch bring us all the news from The Venice Biennale. Following the death of the great Shakespearean actor Michael Pennington, we speak to former RSC Director Gregory Doran about his impact on the stage.

A new small exhibition Elizabeth I: Queen and Court Is running in London. It includes rarely seen portraits of The Virgin Queen that are normally held in private collections. Historians Tracy Borman and Siobhan Clarke join Tom to talk about the crossover between portraits and propaganda for 16th century monarchs

Hilary Mantel's controversial 2015 short story, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, has been adapted for stage at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre. We speak to playwright Alexandra Wood about why she chose to re-tell this story now.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by journalist and podcaster Nick Hilton and writer and historian Catherine McCormack to review a selection of cultural items from this week:

They'll look at The Sheep Detectives, starring Hugh Jackman, a live-action film in which a group of ovine sleuths attempt to solve the murder of their shepherd.

Elizabeth Strout's latest novel, The Things We Never Say, about a Massachusetts school teacher dealing with major changes and crises in his life

And a new exhibition: Kew in London is staging the largest ever presentation of outdoor artworks by Henry Moore; 30 of his sculptures among the glorious gardens.

Presenter Tom Sutcliffe

Acclaimed author Siri Hustvedt on Ghost Stories, her memoir of her marriage to novelist, poet and filmmaker Paul Auster and her grief following his death in 2024.

Following last night's live report on the controversies surrounding this year's Venice Biennale, we are joined by one of the curators of the Ukrainian Pavillion, to hear how a concrete sculpture of a deer rescued from the frontline of the conflict in Ukraine forms the centrepiece of their exhibit.

As a new documentary - Salm Nan Daoine (Psalms of the People) explores how the Gaelic Psalm singing tradition is being kept alive in communities across Scotland and Ireland, singer and musician Rob MacNeacail talks about the history of the tradition and gives us a live demonstration in the studio.

And as a major new project is launched by the National Theatre of Scotland to enable care-experienced people to tell authentic stories about their lives,, playwright Nicola McCartney is joined by the artistic director of The Big House, a London-based charity which empowers young care-experienced people through theatre to fulfil their potential through impactful stage productions.

Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan

Antony Gormley joins Samira Ahmed. The sculptor and artist is best known for landmarks such as Angel of the North or the beach figures of Another Place, in Liverpool. But Antony has also been exhibiting drawings since the 80s and with the publication of the book Drawing he tells Samira what this art means to him.

After the Devil Wears Prada 2 topped the box office this week, BBC New Generation Thinker Dr. Sarah Smyth and author and critic Hanna Flint discuss how films depict women, work and romance.

Following the resignation of the entire jury last week, we discuss the fraught politics of the Venice Biennale with Ed Behrens, editor of visual arts magazine Apollo.

Bruce Dickinson joins Samira to talk about the new documentary Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry Graham

As the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration prepares to open in London, we find out how illustrators are adapting to a changing world.

Starting with a rare interview from Quentin Blake, we'll hear how this once undervalued side of the visual arts still creates the defining images of childhoods, whilst also now playing a central role in the visual language of the internet.

Featuring voices working across illustration, including Posy Simmonds, Chris Riddell, Michael Rosen, Christoph Niemann, Lizzy Stewart, Benji Davies, Murugiah, Chie Kutsuwada and Jane Rosenberg and Olivia Ahmad.

The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration opens 5th June.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Harry Graham

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by playwright Mark Ravenhill and academic and critic Maria Delgado to review:

The first major UK exhibition of Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán at the National Gallery.

A new Spanish language series adaptation of Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits on Amazon Prime video.

Please Please Me by Tom Wright, a play about manager Brian Epstein and The Beatles at the Kiln Theatre in London.

Plus Tom speaks to the winner of the prestigious Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, seen on the series Making of a Maestro.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Lucy Collingwood

From the rebellious spirit of The Jam in the 1970s to the soulful sound of The Style Council and mellow ballads as a solo artist, singer-songwriter Paul Weller is about to release Weller At The BBC Volume 2 - a series of session recordings of his classic hits and interpretations of other artists' songs. He .discusses his musical evolution and his influences.

She's been rather overshadowed by fellow writers such as James Kelman and Alasdair Gray, but in her centenary year Scottish novelist Agnes Owens (who died in 2014) is being celebrated with two exhibitions, and the republication of out-of-print books with new introductions by contemporary writers. Owens' son and literary executor John Crosbie and novelist Kirstin Innes discuss her significance as a writer and her trademark tone.

Writer Fran Kranz discusses his play Mass, in which the parents of a school shooter meet those of a victim, and which is currently running at the Donmar Warehouse in London.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce launches the Children's Booker Prize and discusses some of the themes of his forthcoming Waterstones Children's Laureate Lecture - The Kids Are Not Alright- which calls for the reading of physical books to made a central part of childhood.

Soap writer and aficionado Sharon Marshall on how long-running television dramas are employing bold storytelling techniques to retain and attract audiences.

Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna on how her country's artworks have been targeted by the Russians.

Poet, playwright, and musician Kae Tempest on his new novel, Having Spent Life Seeking, which centres on the character of Rothko as they search for a way to be at peace with who they feel themselves to be.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Front Row Production Team

The Devil Wears Prada 2 director David Frankel on why it was time to bring the old gang back together again. David Haig's new play "Magic" imagines the real life friendship between Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A new play "Stage Kiss" looks at what kissing on stage entails. Playwright Sarah Ruhl and actress Emma Fielding discuss how to do it well (and badly). And Luke Roberts, lecturer in Modern Poetry at KCL, pays tribute to J.H. Prynne, considered by many to be one of the most significant post-War English poets. Presenter: Samira Ahmed

Critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Ludovic Hunter-Tilney join Tom to review Half Man, Richard Gadd’s follow up to his hit Baby Reindeer.

They also discuss Anne Hathaway as a faded pop star looking to make a comeback in supernatural thriller Mother Mary.

Plus they assess Deborah Levy’s book My Year in Paris With Gertrude Stein: a fiction.

To celebrate Shakespeare's birthday, author and translator Daniel Hahn reveals the challenges of translating the Bard into different languages.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet